If you were a close friend of mine over the last couple of years, you would have identified some radical characteristic changes. I went from super capitalistic to a freedom fighter. I believed freedom meant doing whatever you want whenever you want, with no rhyme nor reason. No routine. In ways I was right, but also horribly wrong, and here’s why.
For the majority, childhood is easy. You don’t need to think about planning your day or your week at all. It’s all planned for you.
At a certain age, you might start selecting specific activities that you prefer, but even those are organised for you.
Nothing really changes for the first 18 years of your life.
Sure you might start managing your own time a little, but you’re still working from a templated routine provided to you by our society and your parents.
University seems to be the first huge life change for a lot of people – at least for those who move out.
You arrive in your new room with your suitcase, and other than a few scheduled classes, you have nothing and everything to do.
There are several polls out there that suggest some pretty scary results showing high percentages of students are depressed.
This survey for example shows that anxiety is the top presenting concern among college students (41.6 percent), followed by depression (36.4 percent) and relationship problems (35.8 percent). On average a quarter of students use psychotropic medications.
Even when personally speaking to several friends who attended university, depression was rife. In fact, we spoke about it on my podcast with my friend Martin.
In my personal life, I didn’t really require my own routine until I quit my job and found myself with 24-hours to play around with each day. The reason being was that I just followed the rules. I had to be at work for 9am and I had to have lunch at 1pm and I had to leave at 5pm of which after commuting home I would have my own free time.
After quitting my job and attempting to make this blog a full-time job, I sucked. I really sucked. I sucked for over two years since starting this blog.
Why?
Because I had no routine. I had no motivation to start working. I had no structure to my day to eat effectively nor healthily. And now you ask why I didn’t set up a goddamn routine if I’m preaching about it now.
Well, because of my rebellious nature. I didn’t want to become a robotic machine.
And that is where my article Everything in Moderation comes into play. It’s the balance between discipline and flexibility that is the key to a good routine.
I mentioned my mood during quarantine in my Decision-Making article, convincing myself that I’d be leaving in “two weeks” every week that passed.
One of the reasons why I never progressed was because I didn’t have any structure to my day.
I was going to sleep almost 7am on occasion, meaning I was waking up late in the afternoon and early evening. My diet was non-existent and so I always felt tired, waking up and then eating and then sleeping.
It’s simply not possible to be productive in this state. It’s a state of depression that many discover themselves in.
I had allowed myself to slip into this vortex, by removing my reason to exist.
There are many reasons why one would want to exist, some more important than others – and that’s also where we have a contradiction.
What is important? How? Why? To Whom?
Sometimes, especially whilst travelling, I don’t always have a reason to exist, other than personal gain, which should be the most important reason to exist, but for some reason, it isn’t as powerful as it should be. This is not the case for everyone, but I have spoken to enough people to gain an understanding that it’s not just me.
When I wake up tired I could convince myself to stay in all day and do nothing, and then because I’ve been so lazy I’ll get fast food because it’s already too late to cook.
It’s incredibly easy to do and I know a lot of you will relate.
So I decided, a reason to exist, nor excitement were not viable options to use as motivation.
I needed something autonomous, something ironically robotic without wondering why I’m awake or if I can go back to sleep.
My Wake-Up Routine
I have watched so many health gurus and celebrities sharing their morning routines, but they are really suited to a daily life schedule that doesn’t change very often or is very flexible.
If you work ridiculous hours or living spontaneously, these schedules don’t work.
However, they can be made more flexible.
I don’t do every step every day. In fact, most days I’ll only do 5 of the steps, but it’s enough.
- Drink water
- Pee
- Meditate
- Pushups
- Cold shower
- Tea & Journal
- Respond to emails and messages
Now I’m ready for the day.
And again, I don’t do this every step, every day.
So why the steps?
My Wake-Up Routine Defined
Drinking water helps clear morning mouth saliva, which also helps with digestion. And obviously, it’s good to stay hydrated.
Meditation just allows a calmer wakeup experience. Deep breathing encourages high volumes of oxygen into your body.
Other times I have good energy. Particularly when I keep to a strict diet and a strict routine. I get out of bed and drop to the floor to complete several push-ups. The quantity doesn’t really matter, only that blood gets pumping around the body.
Then I shock myself with a cold shower
Being comfortable is incredibly easy these days and I also promote improving little things in your everyday life to become more comfortable and productive – but discomfort is a powerful tool. I will write a separate article on this.
I’m not always prepared to go cold from the off, so maybe I’ll step into a warm shower and suddenly turn the cold tap on full to shock my mind and body.
It sounds stupid, but you can really surprise your own mind and body with a sudden decision like that.
It’s nice then to step back into a calm organised state of mind to plan the day. I often have a fruit tea – locally sourced honey, ginger and lemon being my favourite. I drink this whilst writing in my journal.
The fruit tea doesn’t break-fast, so I retain higher levels of concentration, and usually, I’ll reflect on the previous day for growth and appreciation and then move onto some objectives for the day.
They don’t need to be strict, however, I have learned that these objectives are better if they can be completed only by myself. I usually fail to complete an incentive when relying on another person.
Finally, I can look at emails and messages from friends.
My mind should be awake by now and should also become more alert as I align my day with the circadian rhythm, and so would be less impacted by things I see on social media or perhaps negative messages I’ve received.
Once I’ve caught up, my day’s tasks begin.
Routine, Routine, Discipline.
Is routine and discipline bad?
Yes, Discipline. You may start thinking this is best suited to those historical “great” or “tyrannical” leaders.
The truth though… No matter how evil some of their actions would have been, they were good at what they did, and every single one of them would have had discipline installed in their life.
Discipline has a bad name in general. It’s a term used to punish your kids when they misbehave.
Routine and discipline also seem to have a bad image amongst writers and other creators. Whilst looking over many quotes in this area I found so many quotes against routine as if it is a suppressant to life. I suspect these quotes were either part of a bigger speech, or they were simply being rebellious. Remember how I was when I quit the corporate world.
Even the stories in multiple religions suggest the use of self-discipline to overcome curiosity. I mention this as a negative due to the restriction this would have on creative thinking. This is a huge topic, however, and should be put to the side for another day.
Roald Dahl’s quote, an author of many popular children’s books, can be taken negatively. Though to analyse it in a positive light and I suspect this is what he means by original, the mundanity of life – brushing your teeth or how to make money – is resolved allowing time for a surge of creativity in the remaining free time of the day.
Famous inventors and scientists such as Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein are renown for wearing the same outfit every day, meaning they spend less energy on menial decisions and more brainpower on creativity and imagination.
Discipline and routine need to be kept in moderation. If done so correctly you’ll keep a steady content life with the added bonus of sticking your heads in the cloud once in a while, before being brought back to Earth.
This is the main concern of excessive use of routine and discipline; lack of time to be creative, no flexibility to enjoy the diversity of life, no slack when things you can’t control go wrong, and becoming too hard on yourself.
Life should be simple, and it can be simple and healthy if structured with simple routines that guide your daily life, yet flexible enough to enjoy spontaneity and chaos.
Self-Discipline
Self-discipline is a construct of self-love. A discipline shouldn’t be a punishment for bad behaviour, but a strong mindset to remain loyal to those guidelines and values you support. They should promote a wealth of wisdom, the health of the body, and positivity towards the soul.
Self-discipline is your responsibility to overcome problems and accept responsibility for your actions. This can also help with being indifferent to other opinions too. Again arrogance is not productive, but impregnable values are good. Standing by those values will attract discerning persons into your life.
Why is Self Discipline Hard?
If self-discipline is self-love, why is it difficult?
Well, a primary reason would be due to the way our subconsciousness works around dopamine.
Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter, which intensifies with pleasure. It’s a basic instinct crucial to survival, as it boosts energy and willpower to achieve something that may simply add more comfort or to keep you alive when food is scarce for example.
The problem with the majority of the modern world is that everything is readily available.
Our biology and subconsciousness can’t change this instinctual behaviour, so we are constantly experiencing dopamine rushes, from Instagram likes to food, music, drugs, exercise etc.
These spikes often cause spouts of depression as they plummet downwards again.
And so if everything is readily available, it’s easy to commit excessive behaviour.
Seeing an overloaded, cheese-bubbling pizza will set off the dopamine transmitters, and it would be great for your tongue… but is it so good for your body in the long term.
This is the self-discipline part. Understanding what will benefit you more and for longer, by appropriately resisting immediate pleasures.
Honing Self-Discipline
Regardless of the difficulties of utilising willpower and controlling dopamine hits, as it is possible to further any skill, it is possible to better your self-discipline. Below are some examples of how you can overcome any difficulties and hone your self-discipline.
- Find your purpose!
- Count on yourself!
- Show up each day!
- Practice voluntary hardship!
- Practice dichotomy of control!
- Never play the victim!
- Practice delayed gratification!
- Ignore naysayers!
- Find wise people to emulate!
- Review your day honestly!
Commit to yourself and be fully committed with confidence and positivity. Create a plan with milestones and target dates, in an attempt to avoid succumbing to being overwhelmed. Being overwhelmed has a negative effect on the mind and will lead to procrastination and then on stagnation.
You must build up your life action by action and be content if each one achieves its goal as far as possible – and no one can keep you from this. Be consistent. Use solid routines and good habits.
We should discipline ourselves in small things and from there progress to things of greater value. If you have a headache practice not cursing. Make life routinely uncomfortable in some way to become hardened.
You have power over your mind, but you don’t have power over outside events. Ensure you understand what those items are.
Never play the victim. Do your job without whining. Remove excuses.
Practice delayed gratification. Do not expect everything to be rewarded at once. Western society has unfortunately spurred on this basic instinct and it’s problematic to long term success if you always take the quick and easy road.
Find your own weak spots. Meditate. Journal each day to discover what went well and what can be improved. In this, you can help influence those things that are not in your power to control fully.
Forgive yourself. Think about what was positive so that it can be repeated. Show Gratitude. Appreciate the present provided to us each day.
So, how important is routine?
This morning routine may seem ludicrously over the top, but once started, it can be thoroughly appreciated.
Without an autonomous routine, the mind will be allowed to wander and procrastinate. This should not be cancelled out altogether as the best creative ideas can come from such moments, although it should be controlled for an appropriate time.
Often negative thoughts overwhelm positive thoughts, hence why we set a countrolled period of time for a wandering mind.
How often do you cringe in a warm shower?
The mind is an empty field, and it’s important to plant positive thoughts towards a worthy ideal. That way they may grow and bloom.
If bad seeds are planted consistently each morning or before sleeping, very little progress will be made towards successful endeavours.
In fact, you will be successful, but only in holding yourself down. You can, or you can’t, either way you are correct.
An autonomous wake-up routine re-tunes the subconsciousness each morning to be positive. The routine can also utilise the law of attraction, best described by Napoleon Hill in his bestseller “Think and Grow Rich”.
Rich, like wealth does not necessarily mean money.
I implore an attempt to include those steps into your wake-up routine, for at least thirty days. Use a physical calendar to mark the days of success and so count upwards to the implementation of your new good habit.
You will likely discover something of which works better for you, but I am certain progress towards a positive success will be improved.